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I got my first M-camera
more than 25 years ago. It was a brand new black chrome M4. My lenses
were Summicron 35 and 50 DR, plus a first generation Tele Elmarit
90. It was not long until I had bought my second body, a used M2.
This gear got extensive use, both for travel and documentary work. The lens set up was later completed with a Super Angulon 21/3,4, a huge investment in those days. The 21-35-50-90 mm lens setup is great for the Leica M, and I am still using it. To this day, I am using
the M2, but completed with M3 and M6 cameras plus some of the newer
lens designs, like the aspherical Summicron 35/2,0 and Summilux 35/1,4.
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I use the Leica M for most of my photography, up to 90 mm lenses. The only time I use a SLR camera is when I need longer lenses, like 180 mm or a macro lens. My usual equipment is two bodies with 35 and 50 mm lenses, sometimes expanded with 21 and 90 mm lenses. My minimalist equipment is a body with 50 mm lens. I use my feet to zoom -if I back up I get a 35 mm perspective, if I move in closer I get a 75-90 mm perspective! In principle,
I have two generations of M-equipment: the 1960:s M2/M3 with lenses,
and the 1990:s M6 with some of the current lenses. I tend to use the
1960:s M2/M3 bodies for B/W and the modern equipment for slides and
color. I can recommend
anyone, who wants to get into Leica M photography with little money,
to go for the 1960:s generation of equipment. The
newest lenses are of course better, but only on the largest openings.
It is hard to tell the difference from F/4,0-5,6 or smaller. For people who are already
using Leica-M, I will above all recommend Tom Abrahamsson's Rapidwinders
and also his Soft releases. Some accessories are like Leica cameras:
If you once start using them, you will never want to be without them! At last, I will also
recommend the mailing list LUG, an excellent way to get to know Leica-folks
all over the world, and the best source in the web for Leica news
and experience. You may also search
the LUG-list for info, without being subscribed. Do you want to learn
more about Leica cameras and lenses? Go to my Leica links page. My
favorite links are Cameraquest (Stephen Gandy) and Leica Papers (Erwin
Puts). I visit them regularly! Hans Pahlen At
last some words from HCB, that I admire as maybe the greatest Leica-photographer
of them all: "I
was asked what we would like to see. I explained that my main interest
was in people and that I would like to see them in the streets, in shops,
at work, at play, in every visible aspect of daily life, wherever enough
goes on so that I could approach them on tip-toes and take my photographs
without disturbing them." Above
is my currently most used gear. Two M6 (0.72 and 0.85 finders) with
28 - 35- 50 - 90 mm lenses. The 28 mm lens is a Ricoh and the 50 mm
is a Nocton from Cosina, although I prefer the Summicron 50 as allround
lens. I have
just published two new pix from Brussels. |
 Leica M3 manual
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This
is my minimalist equipment for B/W shooting: A M2 with Summicron 50
mm lens.
